Shocking revelations have emerged that William Tyrrell was reported missing years before his disappearance on September 12, 2024.
William, who was three years old when he disappeared more than 10 years ago, had been hidden two years earlier by his grandmother, Natalie Collins.
Collins said he was behind his first disappearance after a court ordered him separated from his biological parents – his son Brendan Collins and Karlie Tyrrell.
“So I hid them,” Mrs. Collins said. news.com.au’s Podcast witness: William Tyrrell.
“I hid them for three months after I found out that (NSW government officials) were going to take William away… I arranged it all.”
William was just seven months old in February 2012 when the court ordered him separated from his biological parents.
The Department of Family and Community Services was concerned about domestic violence and substance abuse within the boy’s family, a court heard.
William’s mother was in the audience and knew that her son was going to be placed under the parental responsibility of a New South Wales government minister.
The mystery of William Tyrrell (pictured) has taken another shocking turn, with his biological grandmother revealing that his disappearance on September 12, 2014 was not the first.
William, who was three years old when he was last seen more than 10 years ago, had also been hidden more than two years earlier by his grandmother, Natalie Collins (pictured).
But when authorities arrived to pick up William at his home that afternoon, the family had gone into hiding with Mrs. Collins, who said she was the “mastermind” behind the disappearance.
A police strike force called Duncraig was set up to find William and after many failures and wrong turns he was later found in 2012 and the boy was placed with foster parents.
That couple, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported them missing in 2014.
William has never been seen since and no one has been charged with the disappearance.
The second disappearance, a decade ago, led to the creation of the Rosann strike force.
Collins said given William’s second disappearance, the NSW government “did not do its job properly” and should not have separated him from his biological family.
She said: “This shouldn’t happen today with children in foster care… I have one son in rehab, another in jail and my family is fed up.”
“I lost my son and I got lost along the way.”
The podcast also spoke with a government official who was there when William was separated from his mother before being placed with his adoptive parents.
She also questions whether taking William away from Mrs. Tyrrell was the right choice.
“We take children … from families all the time,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous, breaking down into tears. ‘You do it. It’s part of the job.
The three-year-old boy was last seen playing hide-and-seek with his sister outside this house before his disappearance.
‘What bothers me is that… we took William away from Karlie to protect him. I can still see myself walking into that damn unit… And there was William, on the floor.
‘And I just think… did we do the right thing? Would he still be alive? Maybe.’
The man said he still thinks regularly about William Tyrrell. ‘Not on a day-to-day basis, but it does affect me. Because it keeps coming back.’
An investigation into William’s alleged death will resume in November.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Communities and Justice for comment.